https://imgur.com/gallery/zCRLCse
I'm posting a collage to go along with this so you get a real understanding of what I'm trying to say and how much I changed myself.
Im "celebrating" my 11 year anniversary this month and I thought maybe it would be a good idea to share some things I've learned and experienced along the way.
I use to be BIG. Really big. Heck, by most standards I still am big but 11 years ago I was giant.
Few stats: Height: 6'3" Age when I started: 20 Current age: 31 Biggest weight: well over 600lbs...not 100% sure, the highest weight I ever saw with my own eyes was 620lbs when I stepped on the scale at a recycling yard (place you bring cans to recycle). I got bigger after that. Seeing the weight kind of depressed me and I avoided scales and mirrors and pictures for a long time. Biggest sized shirt I owned and wore regularly? 8XL. Largest shorts? 72 and very elastic so they grew waaaay bigger. Lowest weight: 210lbs Current weight: 250lbs
Glad that's out of the way because this is where I wanted to get into the nuts and bolts of what I've learned over the last 11 years and although everyone can gain something from what I have to say I really want to try and reach other BIG people and hopefully give them a nudge they may need.
The first step is always the hardest. Boring, I know, but I'll be damned if it isn't true. Procrastinating on losing weight isn't just dumb it can be dangerous. I like to think of it like this: every step you take, every minute you go out and walk is a deposit you are making into your Bank of Life. Look at it like a retirement account but for your own happiness and life experience. I went at it HARD when I started out. I walked every day of my life, rain or shine, through rashes and sores, through happy and sad. 2 to 3 hours a day of just walking (I didn't have the physical ability to do much else). That year I deposited so much into my Bank of Life that I will be living off the interest for years to come. I pushed myself, deposited more and more until it hurt.
But this isn't what you want to hear. Reading about me walking everyday isnt going to push you over the edge. I know it isn't. I've read enough weight loss stories to know your eyes are glossing over at the sight of this verbal montage. You dont want to hear how I gave up going to eat with my friends every chance I could to break my social eating habits. How I broke my own cycle of looking for food when I was bored. That shit is hard, which makes it unappetizing and scary. Change is scary.
Maybe a different tactics then? Perhaps I can tell you how amazing it is to be thin--and yes, it is fucking amazing. You know those day dreams you find yourself slipping into almost weekly? Where you dream about being the athletic version of yourself, enjoying life and conquering everything life has to throw at you? I do too. I use to waste my days away with video games and day dreams of exactly that....and then I would see myself in the mirror and think "who am I kidding...." and proceed to eat until I forgot about my dreams.
If you really, and I mean truly have the fire in your belly to lose weight, then it's time to be brutally honest with yourself. When you see yourself and you dont like the person looking back it's time to break the old you down and build from the ground up.
Want some good news? It is NOT that hard. You've been alive for some time now, yes? You have lived many simple days where you wake up and then at the end of the day you went to bed, right? Guess what, none of that changes. If you have a hundred pounds or more to lose it can seem like a mountain that dwarfs Everest. How in the literal fuck do I even start this kind of a climb? Like everything else: take it one day at a time. One small decision at a time. Next time you find yourself opening the fridge because you are bored I challenge you to use critical thinking in that moment. If you have enough time to look in the fridge because you are bored then you have enough time to do a walk around the block. Seriously, every small walk is another deposit into your bank and when you start realizing food isnt your best friend and getting out and being active feels as good as everyone says, you will become hooked.
I've read that it takes between 20 and 30 days to build a habit. If getting to your "goal weight" feels like it's simply impossible, no way, can't do it. Then challenge yourself to try one healthy thing for 25 days. I'm not kidding, you wont feel normal without that healthy thing in your life after that point. You will crave it and seek it out like it is a drug.
If you are still in your infantsie of your weight loss then I personally think its premature for me to tell you to push yourself hard. Obviously I WANT to tell you that but it can again be very off putting and have the reverse of my desired affect which is to get you started. Dont worry about pushing yourself very hard in the beginning. If you do something small everyday like walking and keep at it then just like a drug soon it wont be enough. You will want to go for longer walks and you will want to push yourself harder, it will happen naturally. To me, what's more important than pushing yourself hard at the beginning is becoming curious about what your are doing and educate yourself.
When was the last time you checked out the nutrition facts on the back of that box of crunchy berries you love so much? Not recently I imagine. Open your eyes to the world around you. Read and educate yourself on what exactly you are putting in your body. Do you think those cereal brands or soda companies give a crap about you as an individual? Why would they? That's your job! Start having your own back and treat yourself like you deserve to be treated. You are your best ally in this whole thing so be trustworthy and reliable. No one on earth will care about you as much as you need to start caring about yourself. Your mother and father love you, your brothers and sisters love you, your husband or wife love you but none of them can physically be there and be the solid foundation that you need. That foundation has to come from inside. At the end of everyday every person you know has shit they are dealing with and they go to bed thinking about their lives. You will go to bed and will only have yourself to answer to if you decide to sell yourself short.
This all sounds large in scale and hard to do but it's not. Take it one day at a time.
After you read this massive wall of text take a look around you and think of one thing you want to improve and do it. Self improvement leads to more self improvement so if going out for exercise scares you start small. Clean that dumb you call a room. Wash that rolling turd you call a car. Shave, comb your hair, fly a kite, do SOMETHING that isn't just being lazy.
Great things happen when you open yourself up to the world and put yourself out there and I am proof. I deposited so much into my Bank of Life that when I finally started cashing out magical things happened. Every day began to feel like I was living in the happiest dream my mind could make up. I learned how to work with my hands. I learned what a really honest hard earned dollar feels like and I learned what it means to grow up and become a man.
I put myself out there and pushed myself out of my comfort zone every chance I could and the world replayed me with the love of my life. I found my soul mate (the unforgivably beautiful woman in the pictures with me) and we got married. Guess where we met? The gym. The exact place I wouldn't have been caught dead if I hadn't started my weight loss journey.
Start making the small changes today. You really have no idea what is in store for you but trust me, you will be happy you made the change.
I'll make another post soon yo go over what to expect when you finally do lose the weight (I'm looking at you, extra skin) and I'll give you helpful insights on all of it.
Also, I know some of you will have questions about how I lost the weight so here is a link to the AMA I did 7 years ago, chances are I answered your question there.
https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/p0t27/ive_lost_360lbs_on_my_own_and_i_would_love_to/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
TLDR; there is no tldr for this. If that wall of text is too much for you then you aren't ready to change.
